


What Is This Feeling

by Topographical_Map_Of_Utah



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: But he's keeping his ass on base, F/F, First Kiss, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Force-Sensitive Finn, I'll have you know it is 2AM, Jedi Rey, Jess baking because she's nice like that, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey is a lesbian, Who knew?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topographical_Map_Of_Utah/pseuds/Topographical_Map_Of_Utah
Summary: Rey is overwhelmed, girls are pretty, and Jess baked coconut buns. This should turn out just fine.





	

Rey was awestruck, bamboozled, struck dumb, spellbound, all those silly expressions from the old holobook that was probably still lying on her cot back on Jakku. She had traded four whole portions for it a year back. An impulse buy, sure, but Rey still didn't regret it. After all, without it she would have had to express what she was feeling with indistinct yelling. 

She had decided to take a walk around the base, take in D'Qar's comparatively damp scenery. Strolling for the sake of it was a frankly foreign concept, but she was sharing a room with Finn and Poe and well, apparently they had gotten together since her last visit. It had been three months, so it kind of made sense how much she had missed. Jedi training turned out to be pretty intense. Who knew?

Only after another month of pleading and bargaining had Rey convinced Luke to give her a little break from training. She had a feeling Finn was hiding his Force sensitivity just so he could stay on base and let that pilot of his fuck his brains out between missions. Not that Rey was judging. Only she was. It got lonely on that island and Finn was doing a piss-poor job of being her best friend. Okay, that was mean, but Rey had a thing about people leaving her. She'd work on it.

All that aside, Rey was taking her first real chance to scope out the base, the people included. The first time she had come back she had been too focused on the fact that Finn was walking, talking, laughing and leading a platoon of his own like nothing had ever happened. The second visit was cut short by an emergency, but third time's the charm, and it seemed that her fixation this time would be with her fellow Resistance fighters. Specifically, the girls. 

Rey tried to be surprised, but really. She hadn't fallen for Finn even after all they had done together, and if you couldn't fall for him, you couldn't fall for any man in the galaxy.

Of course, there had been girls on Jakku. Only issue was that they had either been scavengers in competition with Rey, disinterested, or had managed to get off-planet before she got a closer look. So now that she _could_ look, you could bet your lucky stars that she was, watching the base scurry around as she sat cross-legged on a supply box. And what she saw was pretty riveting.

On Jakku, everyone's hair had either been slicked down with sweat or covered with a headscarf to guard against the sun. But here the variations were apparently infinite. Short hair, no hair, helmet hair, long brown curly hair done up in an intricate braid. One technician who darted past Rey sported a headful of cheerful pink locks that bounced as she ran. Human hair didn't come naturally in that colour, did it?

They were short and slim and squat and wiry, as well as everything in between. Some had voices like the rumble of an engine and others sounded like the breeze whispering across the sand, rhythmic and soothing. Only it would be soothing if Rey wasn't so fucking terrified of the scarred technician with lovely broad shoulders or the pilot with dark skin and a white tattoo on her neck or the soldier whose deep laugh showed off a big gap between pearly teeth or...

Simply put, this was too much to process.

"Ground control to Rey. Anyone there?" someone laughed. Rey jumped, startled out of her revery by a familiar voice and an unfamiliar smell, sweet and thick. Curious, she turned to Jess, who had popped up beside her with rosy cheeks and a box that seemed to be the source of the distracting fragrance. The two of them had struck up something of a friendship, even with the limited time they spent together. Jess had taught Rey how to play Dejarik and in exchange Rey had told her all about the elusive Skywalker. Jess was a pretty big fan. It was kind of adorable.

"What's with the handouts?" Rey asked as Jess pressed something warm into her hands. She looked down, curiously considering what Jess had presented her with. A bun, maybe? It was shaped like that awful bread from her rations, but it was soft and pillowy and dusted with something sparkly. It was almost too pretty to eat. Huh. Rey had never thought that before.  

"It's a coconut bun. I made too many for one squadron, even with Dameron on the job. He tapped out after his sixth." A smile spread across Jess' face as she carefully watched Rey venture a bite. "Hey, look at that. You let your hair down."

"Snapped my last tie." Rey mumbled around her first mouthful. The bun was rich and creamy and gritty with sugar, melting in her mouth like an ice cube. She managed, barely, to restrain herself from scarfing down the whole thing in one go. No one was about to take it away from her. At least she hoped they wouldn't. "This's really good."   

"Is it? Great. It's my dad's recipe. Had a box smuggled in on the last shipment and he sent along the instructions. Dandoran's known for that type of thing, after all."

"Yeah. Spice would get shipped in to Niima from there all the time. Smuggling's your planet's specialty. That and baking, apparently." Rey smiled, nodding appreciatively as she chewed. Jess threw her head back when she laughed, a detail Rey couldn't help but file away for further investigation. "Thank you." she added quickly. She was still getting used to thanking people. Wasn't so long ago that no one ever did anything worth thanking them for.

"Don't mention it. Hey, you gonna do anything with your hair? 'Cause if you're not, I've got an idea."

"I'll listen if it means I get more buns." Rey bargained, licking the last of the sugar off of her fingers. Another laugh made Jess shake as she pulled Rey to her feet and dragged her off, laughing and humming, skirt flipping around her dimpled knees. Seems she had foregone her flightsuit for today. It was pretty, what she had on instead. A delicate violet dress paired with a pair of muddy old work boots and a patched combat tunic. Add that to the smell of freshly baked goods that clung to her and Rey was feeling quite faint by the time they wound up at the edge of base. Rey sat down a mossy rock and stretched while Jess trudged through the underbrush, whistling an old war song to herself and trying not to snag her outfit on anything.

"Don't those belong to somebody?" Rey asked as Jess picked the wildflowers peeking out from the dewy grass. On Jakku, there had been one sad little vine creeping up the side of a merchant's tent. It flowered every few years, and the moment those sickly blue flowers made an appearance they were snipped and dried and shipped off for use in something illegal. When she was little Rey would sit outside of that tent whenever she got the chance, heart aching when she remembered that the tiny, precious flowers would be gone when she returned the next day.

"The flowers? Nope. They belong to everybody. Now hold still." Jess straightened and carefully made her way over to Rey, holding a vibrant little bouquet in her arms. Yellow and pink and something in between, like drops of a sunset had been scattered across D'Qar. 

"What're you doing?" Rey asked as Jess sat down behind her and started to comb out her hair with her calloused fingers, humming all the while.

"Making you even prettier. Now hold still, would you?" Rey would only comply once she had another one of those coconut buns to gnaw on. After months of living off of porridge and something that Luke claimed was stew, these things were a welcome change.

She was dozing off against Jess' chest when she felt a tap on her shoulder and sat up, giving Jess room to climb in front of her and slip one more flower right above her ear. It had been maybe half an hour since they had settled into this position, and Rey would be lying if she claimed she wasn't enjoying it.

"That should do it." Jess decided, looking satisfied.

"Is it done?" Tentative, Rey reached up and skimmed a hand over her hair. Jess had put her clever fingers to good use, twisting Rey's hair up into an intricate braid peppered with the tiny flowers. Rey couldn't see it, but she knew that the wait had been worth it. 

"Like dinner. You look good. Trust me." Jess picked a leaf out of Rey's hair and smiled. Now that made Rey's tummy do a little flip. Was she blushing? Rey felt like she was blushing.

"Thank you." she said, for the second time today. On impulse she leant forward and pressed a kiss to Jess' cheek. She didn't really think about it, so it gave her a little start when Jess squeaked and went pink.

"You-" Rey pulled back and Jess stared, brown eyes wide and bright.  

"What? What'd I do?" Kissing was normal on Dandoran, wasn't it? Rey just hoped she hadn't insulted Jess' grandmother or something.

"Nothing, just, well. You meant..." Jess was floundering, now, and Rey was trying to keep a smile off her face, the situation suddenly laid out before her in perfect clarity. "That was, I mean, you didn't mean anything by that but for a second there I-" 

"Kissing's normal, right? It's just something you do, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but usually just if you really really like someone. In a special way, I mean like-"

"Like the way I like you?" Rey said coyly. If Jess had looked shocked before, now she was flabbergasted, turning an attractive shade of rose as Rey leant in to kiss her again. It took a moment to remember she had to kiss back.

Not that Rey minded. Jess was soft and warm and tasted like that gritty sugar from earlier, decadent against Rey's lips. Rey couldn't help but make a startled little noise in the back of her throat as they kissed. Sure, she had incited this, but it was surprising all the same. Not to mention overwhelmingly good. Satisfied with her findings, Rey tugged Jess a little bit closer and smiled when that made her laugh.

Maybe she could convince Luke to let her stay here a little while longer. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm tired and saw a post about Rey and cute girls and Jess and now it's 2AM and I'm writing why


End file.
